1. Field of the Invention
Surgery: Medical and laboratory equipment: hand-held or manipulated surgical instrument or tool for medical or laboratory use; suture needle holder having jaws biased to the opened or closed position. Pair of tongs for holding a needle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional surgical needle holder or forceps is used by the surgeon who manipulates the handles to hold and work the surgical needle to suture the wound or incision on the patient. Conventional forceps are fabricated from a pair of rigid parts each having a jaw at one end and a handle with a ring at the other end. The two parts are mounted together to form a scissors-like instrument. The two parts are pivotally secured behind the pair of jaws. There is a finger ring and thumb ring at the distal end of each handle. The surgeon places his thumb in one ring and his index finger in the other ring to control and manipulate the forceps. He can squeeze the two rings together with his thumb and finger to cause the jaws to clamp down on the suture needle while at the same time moving the forceps to suture with the needle. The conventional forceps require squeezing while manipulating the forceps. Some forceps have engagable snap together locking means on the pair of handles and towards the rings to lock the jaws shut by locking the pair of handles together. It is usually a snap connection. The lock will engage when sufficient force is supplied by the finger and thumb to press the rings together. The lock will disengage when sufficient force is applied to spread apart the rings.